Poetry Friday--The Round-Up Is Here!

Yee ha! It's the last of this first half of the year's Round-Ups. The Fourth of July is around the corner and summer is in full swing! So, let's get started!

I came upon the name, Hélène Dutrieu, quite by accident--she turns out to have been one of the most fascinating women, ever! Hélène Dutrieu [1877-1961] was what I would call a real hot ticket! I hope to find out more about her one day soon, but her Wikipedia entry was enough to spark a bit of illustrated poehistory!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

Hélène Dutrieu: The Bare Facts

She conquered
balance
as a cyclist,
speed
as an auto racer,
and gravity
as an aviator.

Still, she could not
conquer prejudice.

Women of daring
and accomplishment
expected push-back.

Hélène received it
in the form of
fashion criticism.

A Paris couturier
designed her flight
suit, yet Hélène was
lambasted for what
she neglected
to wear in the air--
her corset.


Please use InLinkz to leave a link to your post. In the past, people from Australia had a problem using InLinkz (probably due to the time difference), if you have problems, please leave the link in the comments section and I will add it for you. Many thanks!

Poetry Friday--Down to the Wire

Originally, the deadline for the Sketchbook Project was January 31, 2015, but, it was extended to March 31, 2015. Bad move. It gave me more time to procrastinate and now it's down to the wire. Will I get it in the mail and postmarked by March 31?

Silly me, I thought the sketchbook was the size of half a 8.5" X 11" piece of paper. I should have known better and taken it out of the envelope and measured it. I spent a lot of time setting all the photos and poems in place so that I could print it on the photocopier and when folded in half would be a perfect little book. My plan was to simply replace the sketchbook pages. I did print it on the photocopier and folded it. It looked great--spaced right, the photos ended up next to the poems, etc. However, the sketchbook, it turns out, is 5" X 7" and I'm up the proverbial creek without a paddle. So, now I'm resizing it, trying to figure out how to set the margins so that it prints only in a portion of the sheet. It's like a giant puzzle, and I'm not a puzzle person. I may not make it. Thirty-two pages never seemed so long!

If you click on the Sketchbook Project link on the right-hand side of the page, you can see the poems in the Sketchbook Project that I have posted since last spring. There are two that I hadn't posted earlier; I'm going to share those today.

I was reading through old reports from The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) and "found" this poem that I used for the first poem in the book:

Collective Guilt
A poem composed of the words of Florence Kelley found in the "Report from the National Consumers' League" from the Proceedings of the Third Annual Meeting of the National Child Labor Committee, 1907

Young children pick the cotton
that we are wearing;
they help to spin it.
They help to stitch
it in the factories.

They have to do
with the distribution
of all our goods.

They are in the shoe factories.
They are in the garment
trade by thousands.
They are in the hat factories...

No one is free today
from participating in this
particular evil.

No one.

The photo and poem I used to end the book:

Title: John Howell, an Indianapolis newsboy, makes $.75 some days. Begins at 6 a.m., Sundays. Lives at 215 W. Michigan St.) Location: Indianapolis, Indiana. Created: 1908 August. Library of Congress: LC-DIG-nclc-03225

Unusable

This photo is unusable.
I am in it.
The story is not about me.
I am merely the means,
I hope--I pray--
to a happy ending.

Here's a photo of an NCLC exhibit panel, which I have decided to use on the back cover:

If I get the book turned in on time, then it will be digitized, and, you'll be able to see it online. I'll let you know if and when that happens.

I'm probably not going to purchase a sketchbook for next year. I think the project is better suited for artists and the media they use. If I'm going to put that much work into a book of poems, then I might as well use the effort to try to sell it! I did enjoy what I created over the past year. I probably could write a few more poems and have real book, but for now, I'm stepping away...

Stop by the Poetry Friday Round-Up where today it is being hosted by Jone at Check It Out.

Poetry Friday--Ch Challenge Continued

Last week I presented a few of my musical connections to Heidi Mordhurst's March ch word challenge. I'm going to continue this week.

March 12, word: "pitch"

I thought of pine tar and pine pitch when I first saw the word. I was wondering if pine tar and pitch were the same thing, so I thought I'd start with the dictionary. Lo, and behold, there was no definition for pitch being a pine resin product! There were at least a dozen definitions of pitch, but not the one I was looking for. But, the abundance of definitions gave me an idea for my poem:

Mr. Peeps a.k.a. the Perfect Pitch Pirate

Filthy from pine pitch and stinking
of rum still his mateys love
the timbre and pitch of his voice.
They spend hours rapt in his tales
of heroics and bonnie young things.

Like the pitch of a snake oil salesman
Mr. Peeps grabs their attention and
doesn't let go until the sale is made.

Any helmsman who dares steer
into a swell will find himself
pitched overboard if he causes
the ship to pitch and roll.
Ship mates brought to
an emotional pitch become
testy if a story is interrupted.

The captain knows the pitched
battle never comes when Peeps
is telling his tales. Cap'n no
longer pitches a fit, for in
the pitch black night no one
notices him sitting there listening
with his thumb in his mouth
thinking of his dear, old, mum.

Mr. Peeps' stories'll do that to a man.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Of course, when I think of pirate songs I think of "Drunken Sailor" or "Fifteen Men (On a Dead Man's Chest)," but "The Drunk Scotsman" is more reflective of the type of story I see my pirate telling (warning: may not be suitable for all ages):




March 13, word: "arch"

First a video for a little background:

Arch of Triumph of the Star
(You Up for It, Mr. Godefroy?)

Merde!
They make us march
with foot soldiers--
those who have no
connection to stars!

Imbéciles!
They make light of us!
We are the future.
We've conquered the enemy.
We've conquered the skies!

Il faut!
They underestimate us.
We will plan carefully.
Study the arch, the air,
le bébé Nieuport.

L’appel du vide!
We will do it--fly through
l'Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile.
We will touch the heavens.
We will honor this land.

Ça te dit?

14 Juillet, 1919

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

It seems that when World War I ended there was a great celebration at the Arc de Triomphe. Pilots were made to march through the arch with common foot soldiers, which they resented doing. So, Charles Godefroy, was selected to exact revenge, and, to make history. He flew through the Arc de Triomphe three weeks later on August 7. Poems I write about historical events or periods I refer to as "poehistry."

Here's a little novelty musical recording about flying from 1911:



This week's ch words are chocky-block full of song connections. Monday "inch": "Garden Song" by Dave Mallett. Tuesday "lurch": What else but "The Addams Family" theme song? Thursday "lunch": "Sandwiches" by Fred Penner (I can't tell you how many times we sang this when my kids were young!) The poems I wrote, however, were not at all connected to the songs that sprung to mind!

It's time to send you hither and yon in pursuit of poetry. Catherine at Reading to the Core is hosting the Round-Up this week.

Poetry Friday--"Almost"

This may be the last poem in my Sketchbook Project series. I hope I have captured the voices of those children who, in the first two decades of the 20th century, were forced by circumstance to work at an age when they should have been playing or attending school.

We take too much for granted nowadays, including child labor and workplace safety laws. Not to get political, but, there are some people who think the government should be limited in its oversight of business and labor. If a country without governmental regulation were to evolve, how long do you think it would take before children were back at work in the factories, fields, tenements, or on the street? (In case anyone has forgotten, in the debates leading up to the 2012 presidential election, there was one candidate who thought children should/could replace janitors in schools.)

Caption: A "Reader" in cigar factory, Tampa, Fla. He reads books and newspapers at top of his voice all day long. This is all the education many of these workers receive. He is paid by them and they select what he shall read. Location: Tampa, Florida. Date: January 1909. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

Almost

We have a man
here who reads
to us all day long.

It's almost like being
in school, or maybe
like being in a show.

It's mostly the news:
murder, shipwrecks,
investigations, fraud,

disappearances, crop
failure, bankruptcy,
scandals, disaster,

train wrecks, jail
breaks, disease...
It's almost like being

out in the real world
except sometimes
here we get poetry.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

I have been using my imagination to fill in the stories untold by Hine's photographs, there's a man in Massachusetts who has been piecing together the stories in another way. Click here for a short video.

The Poem Farm is where you should head for this week's Round-Up.

Poetry Friday--"Cherish"

I'm back today with another Sketchbook Project poem. This makes thirteen. The sketchbook is 32 pages. I see page 1 as the title page, pages 2-3 as information about the National Child Labor Committee Collection at the Library of Congress, and Hine's work as photographer, then 14 photo/poem spreads, with a final page of information about the result of the NCLC's investigation.

I have one more poem to go. I think the hardest part of the project will be writing the factual material and assembling the book. I have to determine the order, and maintain a balance of girl-boy voices. A significant portion will be mill worker poems, and the rest will be a mix of other child laborers--newsies, pickers/packers, home workers, etc. If everything doesn't flow, then I may have to write a few more to substitute.

Caption: Two of the "helpers" in the Tifton Cotton Mill, Tifton, Ga. They work regularly. Date: January 1909. Photo taken by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

Cherish

Sister told me, "Cherish that friend."
When I asked her what that meant,
she said, "Keep smiling for Eddie."
We must laugh together. Sing while
we work. At break, whisper silly

words and secrets. And, I'm 'sposed
to listen when Eddie whispers in my ear.
Most of all, Sister told me to remember
the feelin' of her hand in mine--the
tangle of our sticky little-girl fingers.

"The Lord don't promise us nothing
here on earth but heartache and pain!"
she hollered at me. Hollered loud!
I was put in mind then--Sister
once had a friend, too, jus' like me.

Last year Sister stopped talking
bout her mill friend, Carrie, and I
figured she didn't like that girl
no more, but I think maybe she
'jus didn't hold on tight enough.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Interestingly, the little girl on the right was Eddie Lou Young, the name of the one on the left is unknown. You can read all about the search for Eddie Lou's mother's identity, here. I gave the voice of today's poem to the unknown child.

Renee at No Water River is awaiting your arrival for this week's Poetry Friday festivities.

Poetry Friday--"Little Shaver"

Caption: A Little "Shaver," Indianapolis Newsboy, 41 inches high. Said he was 6 years old. Aug., 1908. Wit., E. N. Clopper. Location: Indianapolis, Indiana. Photo taken August 1908 by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

Little Shaver

When I get bigger I'm
going to be a barber.
A barber makes people
look good, smell good,
and willing to part with
two pennies for a paper.
And another one for me.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Laura at Author Amok is doing Poetry Friday Round-Up duty this week--stop by!

Poetry Friday--Happy Labor Day!

On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday. That holiday was named Labor Day. I wonder if, in August 1911, little Preston knew that on September 4 there would be a holiday celebrating his contribution to the labor force and to America's prosperity?

Caption: Five year old Preston, a young cartoner in Seacoast Canning Co., Factory #2. I saw him at work different times during the day--at 7 a.m., in the afternoon, and at 6 p.m., and he kept at it very faithfully for so young a worker. Location: Eastport, Maine. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine taken August, 1911, courtesy Library of Congress.

Outside Seacoast Canning Co.

How old am I? I'm five-
years-old last week.
I'll hold up the tin and
the cart'n so you can
see it good. I do this:

I get the tin and I push
it in the cart'n. Get
another tin, push it in
a cart'n. You watchin'?
Get another tin, push...

Uh huh, that's what's I
do every day. But not
at all on Sunday, cause
that's the day we go to
church to save our souls.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

There is a short video available on the canning industry in Eastport. Created by the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, it contains several references to Hine. Access it here.

Now--go enjoy your Labor Day weekend, but first, visit with Jone at Check It Out for the Round-Up!

Poetry Friday--2014 Summer Poem Swap

The 2014 Summer Poem Swap, the brainchild of the lovely Tabatha Yeatts, is concluding today. Participants sent a poem to a different person every two weeks over the course of the summer. What follows are the poems I sent out (please click on the images to enlarge them for easier reading).


June 20, to Jone MacCulloch:

"Still Life with Flowers in a Vase" by Christoffel van den Berghe (1617), courtesy The Athenaeum. Poem © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Jone is someone who takes "Solace in Nature" (that's the name of her book), and has roses and other flowers around her home (Facebook can be so revealing). I hoped this buggy poem would appeal to her!


July 4, to Irene Latham:

Photo by Russell Lee, courtesy Library of Congress. Poem © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

If you haven't read Irene's novel for children, Leaving Gee's Bend, I recommend it! Irene uses quilt-making as an essential element in her story.

I had the experience of seeing a lovely old quilt on the beach, and, my grandmother had a yo-yo bed cover that I remember fondly (and wonder where it might be today).


July 18, to Anastasia Suen:

"Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" by John Singer Sargent. Painting and various studies, courtesy The Athenaeum. Poem © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

For many years I had a postcard of Sargent's "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose," stuck on my refrigerator. When our Poem Swap fairy godmother, Tabatha, sent us the painting as a prompt, I knew I would use it.

In looking through The Athenaeum's offerings, I found several studies that Sargent had done for the work. I feel certain that Sargent recognized when the work was finished. (Read the Wikipedia article on the painting and tell me if the paragraph beginning "Sargent's painting can be read as a botanical allegory" creeps you out--it did me! And, I can't un-read it!)


August 1, to Heidi Mordhurst:

Haiku © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. "Fence" photo courtesy U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

Heidi wrote about a summer project of writing "copy tributes," and asked for suggestions of women poets and their poems that a teen might find familiar. She mentioned Emily Dickinson, and that got me thinking about haiku I had written a few years ago, which were inspired by Dickinson poems (click here and here). I decided to write more, and, as I often do, I got carried away and embarked on yet another project. I sent two to Heidi, and I have a bunch more waiting to be put together with illustrations. I thought about trying my hand at an ebook, but after several tries, and being totally put off by the formatting, I've decided to go with the illustrated poems. When I'm done, I will try again. I think it will be easier to make a book of jpgs than individual poems!

I put the cart before the horse and came up with a cover first! Here it is:

August 15, to Keri Collins Lewis :

Poem and photo © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Excerpt from "Blueberry Pie" blog post © Keri Collins Lewis.

Keri and her husband keep bees (and make a wonderful honeycomb soap). I had a photo I had taken of a bee on a blueberry bush in my backyard (I don't believe it's a honeybee, though). The recipe I found on Keri's old blog, which sadly has disappeared. Fortunately some "snapshots" are accessible on The Way-Back Machine. I melded the images together and wrote the poem to go with it. I think it speaks to Keri's generosity, and, her love of food!

I will be posting some of the poems, which I received, next Friday, so come back again!

Meanwhile, Heidi awaits you at My Juicy Little Universe where she is hosting this week's Round-Up.

Poetry Friday--"Boy With Coat"

Boy with coat in hand is 11 years old. Been there 9 months. Started at 50 cents a day. Now gets 60 cents. Loray Mill. "When I sweeps double space I gets 90 cents a day, but it makes you work." (Look at the boy.) Two "infants" appeared at the door, and vanished back immediately on seeing me. Location: Gastonia, North Carolina. Photo taken November 1908 by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

Boy With Coat

Ssh...don't tell Mama.
I'm not getting 50 cents
no more. I'm getting 60!

Ssh...we both have secrets.
She has her "jus' dreamin'"
book. I gots an extra dime.

Sometimes she shows
me her dreams in the
Sears Roebuck catalog.

I'm not showing my
10-cent pieces, though,
not 'til Christmas day.

Then I'm taking a pretty
page out of her book,
wrapping up my silver

coins and telling Mama
to buy herself a dream.
So ssh...don't say nothin'.

Poem © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Margaret at Reflections on the Teche is hosting the Poetry Friday Round-Up, please stop by.

Poetry Friday--"Shadows"

Caption: Young girls going to work in Mill No. 1 Cocheco Mfg. Co., Dover, N.H. I saw them go to work regularly, day after day. May 17, 1909--Noon. Location: Dover, New Hampshire. Photo taken by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

Shadows

There is always someone
in the shadows.
Always watching.
Keeping tabs.
Making sure no one meets
with gentlemen.
Or talks to labor organizers.

Watching us.
Their eyes lingering.
Their thoughts...
Need I tell you what their
thoughts might be?
Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu,
priez pour nous...

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

If you haven't been following my Sketchbook Project progression, you can catch up by clicking here.

Sylvia and Janet will be hosting the Round-Up for this week at Poetry for Children. And while you're there, take a look at the history of children's poetry over the past 25 years in this post.

Poetry Friday--"Father O'Brien"

Headed for my Sketchbook Project book.

Caption: Pin boys in Les Miserables Alleys, Frank Jarose, 7 Fayette St., Mellens Court, said 11 years old, made $3.72 last week. Joseph Philip, 5 Wall St., said 11 years old, and works until midnight every week night; said he made $2.25 last week and $1.75 the week before. Willie Payton, 196 Fayette St., said 11 years old, made over $2 last week, works there every night until midnight. Location: Lowell, Massachusetts. Photo taken October 1911 by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

Father O'Brien

Father O'Brien of
Saint Patrick's Church
started to laugh when
I told him about my job at
Les Miserables Alleys.
"My boy," he says,
"a more aptly named
place there never was."
And then he busts out
sputtering and laughing
like one who has been
touched by the pixies.
I'll tell you something--
I don't get the joke.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Head over to see Tabatha Yeatts for the Poetry Friday Round-Up. (Tabatha sent me poem #3 in the Summer Poem Swap. Actually, she sent me 4 poems total! What a gal!)

Poetry Friday--"American Bambina"

A Sketchbook Project poem for this most patriotic of American holidays!

Caption: Civarro family, 2106 Second Avenue, second floor back, working on patriotic flag pins. They get 3 cents a gross for inserting pin and putting onto card. Mrs. Civarro with her three-months-old baby in her arms is working with four children aged 10, 9, 7 and 5, and a younger child that does not work (2 years). They work irregularly (as Mrs. Civarro does the janitor work for the building which is in fair condition, and receives in return only the rent free of three small rooms), and their net income for this work is $2 a week. 8 members of the family sleep in one small inner room. The tenement is not licensed for homework. Baby was a premature child and very small and frail. "It is so skinny." Husband is a laborer. Location: New York, New York (State). Date: May 21, 1917. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

American Bambina

I was born in this country
as were the four after me.

Only Gaspare was born
in the old country.

Did you know Gaspare
means "treasure"?

He's Mama's golden, first
born bambino. Only one is first.

But, Gaspare does not find it
easy counting to 144.

And, he does not have my
quick nimble fingers.

I'm the first American born.
Why doesn't that count?

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

I had intended to write something about being an red-blooded American as proven by the red-speckled pin-pricked skin resulting from in-home piece work. That idea fell by the wayside when the nine year old girl pushed her way to the front. She's an over-worked child, but she's also a sibling! Sometimes sibling rivalry is the most important issue in a child's life.

Have a safe 4th of July holiday! Start the fireworks going with the colorful poems being featured today at My Juicy Little Universe where Heidi is hosting the Round-Up.

Poetry Friday--A Sketchbook Project Two-fer

Photos of two children, separated by many miles [please click on them to enlarge for more detail]. Two poems for my Sketchbook Project.

Caption: Young girl working in Anniston Yarn Mills. Location: Anniston, Alabama. Date: November 1910. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

Words

In the mornings I look
at the lettering on the
side of my machine.

I know my letters but I
never did learn to put them
together to make words.

Julia, reads real good.
She reads the waving words:
"American Machine Company
Pawtucket, R. I."

What is a Pawtucket?
It sounds like my brother
saying Pa took something.

Julia says it's a place way
far from here. In capital R,
Rhode, capital I, Island.

I imagine a place sunny,
breezy, smelling of clean
air. A place where girls,
like me, don't have to work.

Maybe, I'll go there, someday.

Caption: (For Child Welfare Exhibit 1912-13.) View in a Pawtucket, R.I., cotton mill showing accumulation of lint on floor. The air is full of it too, but photo doesn't show it. Location: Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Date: November 1912. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hines, courtesy Library of Congress.

Pawtucket Spring

My little sister is five.
She likes to pick the bits
of fluff that cling to me
when I get home from
the mill. She calls me
her favorite dan-dee-lion.

Poems © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

The Round-Up for this week is taking place at Buffy's Blog. Stop by and say "hi!"

Poetry Friday--"Sights Set"

Written for the Sketchbook Project:

Caption: A few of the small girls and boys (not the smallest ones) that I found working in the spinning room of one of the Amoskeag Mfg. Co. mills at Manchester, N.H. Photo taken at 1:00 p.m., May 21, 1909, in hallway of spinning room. Many others there and in the other mills. Smallest boy (on left hand) is George Brown, No. 1 Corporation. Corner of Granite and Bedford Sts. Next is, Eugene Lamy, 16 Marion St. Girls: Melvina Proulx, 145 Cartier St. Laura Oclair, 145 Cartier St. Location: Manchester, New Hampshire. Photo taken May 21, 1909 by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

Sights Set

Look at him posing
like some mighty strong-man!
My petite suitor, standing
tall, arms crossed, with his
skinny little muscles
barely standing out.

He doesn't know this man
with the big box camera.
Why, he might be a
challenger for my affections!
Eugene need not worry--I have
my sights set even higher.

I'm looking to get away
from Manchester.
Away from mill rats
and men, both inside
and out, who want
to capture my soul.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Fellow librarian, Jone, will be hosting this week's Round-Up at Check It Out. (Jone is also the person to whom I'm sending my first poem in this year's Summer Poem Swap, organized by the lovely Tabatha Yeatts! I'm planning to collect all my Summer Swap Poems and posting them together on August 15.)

Poetry Friday--Another from the Sketchbook Project

Caption: National Child Labor Committee. No. 92. Main entrance Gary W. Va. Mine. Miners going into mine 7 A.M. Boy beginning career as "picker." Will be in mine over 10 hours consecutively. 7 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Location: Gary, West Virginia. Photo taken September 1908 by Lewis Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

This photo immediately captured my attention and the child's voice popped into my head.

Beanpole

I was always taller
than the rest. And skinny, too.
Mama called me Polebean
and the name stuck to me
like the grin on a possum.
"Git some sun," she would say,
"keep growin' while you can."

Suddenly my voice started
changing. I grew a whole lot
more and I knew it was time.
The night before I went down
that hole to be a picker,
Mama clung to me like
I was a beanpole and cried.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

I was overtaken by a writing frenzy, so I have a number of Sketchbook Project poems set to post over the next month or so!

For the Round-Up this week, you must go visit Catherine Johnson!

Poetry Friday--D-Day Remembered

June 6, 2014 is the 70th anniversary of the invasion of France that marked the beginning of the end for Germany in World War II.

I'm going share three poems about World War II that you can also find in my online collection, Kids of the Homefront Army: Poems of World War II America.

Cathleen

JUNE 6, 1944

It’s almost as though
everyone is walking
on tippy-toe.

New York City is quiet--
hushed and listening
for the latest news

of the invasion
that will lead us
on the path to peace.

Or not, depending
upon how it goes.
For now, all eyes

are on the news line.
All hearts have stopped beating.
Please, Lord...

Please.



Lucille

AT THE PICTURE SHOW

Every Thursday night
since the war began
my mother and I go
to the picture show.
She claims it’s because
she needs to escape
from the kitchen.
She doesn’t fool me.
It’s the Movietone news
she goes to see.
Newsreels show the war
as it is—dirty and deadly.
As long as Lowell Thomas is able
to narrate the horrors every week,
Mother will be there to watch.
She wants to be a witness.
Me, I’d rather be a slave
in the kitchen.

Nate

MUSICIAN

I picked up the trumpet
in grade school
for something to do.
It was my dad’s horn.

He had played in his
high school band.
He was rather good—
or so he said.

I liked tootling around
pretending I was
swinging with Benny
Goodman or Tommy Dorsey.

One day, at school,
a horn player was recruited
to play Taps as a tribute
to our fallen servicemen.

I had pretended for so long
that I believed I could play.
"I’ll do it!" I said,
before I stopped to think.

Now everyone would know.
I was a faker—a fraud.
How could I have been
so foolish?

I practiced all weekend
in the cellar where my squeaks
and squawks were muffled.
I drilled until my lip bled.

On Monday, bruised and swollen,
I took my place on the landing
between the two floors.
I lifted the trumpet.

I played slowly,
I played deliberately,
I played my best.
I played for my dad.

Poems © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo courtesy Library of Congress. Video courtesy Internet Archive.

We can't think about D-Day without remembering those who died--war means loss. Especially for children. Let's all work for peace today.

Carol's Corner is hosting this week's Round-Up and I'm sure there will be plenty of poems to put a smile on your face.

Poetry Friday--The Poetry Friday Round-Up Is Here!

Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

Caption: Small family group hulling berries at Johnson's Hulling Station, Seaford, Delaware. Date: May 1910.

I've got two poems completed for my entry in The Sketchbook Project, and at least two more, which I wrote prior to taking on the project. That's four down and about eleven to go!

This one is especially relevant since June is the start of strawberry season!

Two Cents a Quart

All of us are here.
Papa's in the shed shaving
wood for quart baskets.
Gran and Grampy, and
Mama and us youngins share
a bench hulling strawberries.
We gets 2 cents a quart.
Mr. Johnson says he ain't
gonna dock us for all the wood
we take home in our fingertips!
He's a real corker, he is.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

If you're here for the Poetry Friday Round-Up, leave your links in the comments and I'll be collecting them all day Friday. I'm quitting by 9:00 PM because Saturday is the Friends of the Library of Windham's annual Strawberry Festival and Book Fair, and I need my rest so that I'll have the strength to lift all those heaping spoonsful of biscuit, strawberries, and cream!

Laura Shovan showcases the poems created by kids during Laura's recent residency at Northfield Elementary. I read them and had to stop in the middle to get a snack to stop myself from drooling!

Tara joins many in remembering Maya Angelou, who passed away this week. Tara shares "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Angelou is now flying free, but those of us stuck on earth will miss her presence.

Julia Wendell's "My Mother's Handwriting" takes the stage at Jama's Alphabet Soup, and it's not soup Jama's serving up, but her mother's chili! (Wait until morning, though, the post isn't live until 6 am.)

Laura Salas at Teaching Authors has a poem by one of my favorite children's poets, Valerie Worth, "Geese."

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes issued a challenge for the month of May. Write a cinquain relating to water, post it at Today's Little Ditty, and you'll be entered in a drawing for a copy of Laura Salas' book, Water Can Be. Michelle has the entries rounded up for us. There's still time to post yours. I thought I had posted one, but I don't see it. Maybe I just intended to and never did! Wait, I found it:

And You Thought It Was Just Yucky

Drooling--

continuous

stream of protein-laden

water ensures germ-protected

babies.

I'll go post it now! This is everything that had been left in the comments prior to 11:00 PM, I'll be back in the morning to start on the rest!

Good morning! I'm back and will be posting with a cat on my shoulder! It sometimes makes it difficult to type, but she's getting old and likes the nearness. How can I turn her away?

Matt Forrest Esenwine's daughter had an encounter with a giant of the woods and inspired Matt's poem for today, "Problem Solved."

At Beyond Literacy Link, Carol is joining us with an original Memorial Day poem, framed very nicely. She also shares a vintage postcard from her ephemera collection. I'm looking forward to seeing what other things she has in her collections!

Linda at Teacher Dance has been working with student writers all year and now collects some of their work for us--poems, stories, and even an essay about the decline of whales!

Our Amazing Days has a post about my favorite type of poetry--ekphrasis! Check out Karin's awesome poem inspired by Andy Warhol's "Grevy's Zebra." It is an amazing day!

Mary Lee's Year of Reading ends the school year with "Sumer Is Icumen In." Make sure you take the time to listen to the poem sung in a round. I have "sing cuckoo" stuck in my head now. Help!

Another tribute to Maya Angelou is posted by Jone. "Still I Rise" is a favorite with many.

Iphigene from Gathering Books takes us in another direction with a poem by Pablo Neruda about an onion! Yes, an onion, and it's wonderful!

Imagine you're in the Trojan horse. Imagine you ARE the Trojan horse. That's what Tabatha has done for us in her original poem, "Wooden Horse," we're there!

At Carol's Corner the Maya Angelou tribute continues. Carol has a poem by Kevin W. Riley, which was inspired by Angelou's words.

Down at The Poem Farm, Amy has an original tenting poem (also recorded for your listening enjoyment), and she shares some children's responses--art and words--to poetry.

A big shout out to Heidi Mordhurst who stopped by to say she "wanted to wave at you all from under the rich, mucky surface of the Kindergarten Frog Pond.... " Hang in there, Heidi, the school year is almost over!

Irene at Live Your Poem shares news of embarking on a new adventure, and, she includes her poem about Harriet Tubman called, "All Aboard the Freedom Train." Bon voyage, Irene!

I almost forgot to link to KK's Kwotes! Today, there's a quote by Ntoxake Shange with a link to an article, "A Poet With Words Trapped Inside." Kurious Kitty is taking the day off at her Library blog, so there's no link.

Down on the Teche today, Margaret Simon was moved to write a sestina to celebrate Maya Angelou. Look for lines like these,

She knew who heard her voice
above all others; her curls
were born to adorn our hearts.

Keri is recommending jumping aboard the cinquain bandwagon. She includes two cinquain that were inspired by a walk along, and a tumble into, a creek.

For those who are in need today, there's an incredibly hopeful poem, "Marigolds," by Robert Graves at Bildungsroman.

Karen Edmisten has been bitten by the Dickinson bug! She is fascinated by Emily Dickinson, the woman and shares a link to "Emily Dickinson" by Linda Pastan, and links to other musings on Dickinson.

Trica at The Miss Rumphius Effect is back. She's been having a difficult month and so, she's posting a poem called "Sorrow." Since a shared sorrow is a sorrow halved, then by the end of the day, her readers should have her back on the joy track.

At There Is No Such Thing As a God-forsaken Town, Ruth is thinking about cleaning now that the school year is over. She shares "Mother's Closet" by Maxine Scates.

Project Chameleon explores the National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry and Kelly asks what poems are favorites for use in a classroom?

All About the Books with Janet Squires provides us with an introduction to The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science and Imagination, an anthology of poems selected by Mary Ann Hoberman.

We'll close out the night with some Wendell Berry at Rogue Anthropologist.

It's been a long day. Any comments that come through later tonight will be posted tomorrow. Goodnight all!

Readertotz points out that Shel Silverstein's Don't Bump the Glump and Other Fantasies is now 50 years old!

Poetry for Children's tribute to Maya Angelou focuses on Angelou's children's poetry. I'm amazed by the scope of her work!

Lori Ann at On Point experiments with Superstickies (welcome to the club!) to create "Twilight's blush."

If you've never tried putting a poem on a sticky note, you can try it here. I've been a fan since 2009 and have now posted 255 weekly stickies!

Poetry Friday--Who's Up for a Challenge?

One day, while reading through Facebook, I came across a comment on an illustrator friend's post. The commenter had mentioned receiving her "Sketchbook Project" blank book in the mail. Being a curious person, I took a trip via the Google and found a website for The Sketchbook Project 2015, described as "A crowd sourced library of artists' books."

I read through and learned about the Mobile Library and the permanent Brooklyn Art Library.



The "Frequently Asked Questions" page states:

We use 'sketchbook' as [a] loose term for experimentation in creativity. You can write, draw, collage, share photographs, list, document, record, tell a story, or any other way of filling a page.

In other words, as a writer, I can participate!

I signed up, paid my fee, and shortly thereafter my sketchbook arrived in the mail! The project deadline is January 31, 2015, so I have plenty of time for pre-planning and execution. When I signed up, I checked off "History Book" as my theme. I'm considering using public domain Library of Congress photos as a jumping off point and writing more poehistry. Something like what I did with many of the poems in Kids of the Homefront Army. (An old post on writing from photos, which is archived at The Write Sisters blog, explains in more detail.)

The sketchbook is only 32 pages--I think I can come up with enough to fill it. (I'd better be careful. My late mother used to say, "Famous last words!" whenever someone made a cock-sure pronouncement.)

The 2014 tour has begun. The stop closest to me is Portland, Maine (by closest I mean a 2+ hour drive), but it won't occur until October 2. A Thursday! From 11 until 3. I'm guessing I won't make it, but maybe you can catch one of the stops near you. Here's the schedule.

Perhaps you would like to fill a 32 page sketchbook with your poems and share it with the world. Be aware: there are some copyright stipulations you must agree to. For me, there's not enough time left in my "career" as a poet, to worry about granting nonexclusive rights to the Project, however, you may disagree.

You didn't expect a P.F. post without a poem, did you? I looked through some photos and found this one:

Caption: Alfred Hicks, a 10-year-old newsie, selling Boston papers at noon. Location: Barre, Vermont. Date: December 18, 1916. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine, courtesy Library of Congress.

This photo had a date and specified the papers were from Boston, so, I did a little research and found a copy of the morning edition of the Boston Daily Globe for December 18, 1916, which was a Monday. The headline for that day was "Bomb Blows Hole in Police Station Wall." Anarchists were blamed and the bomb was suspected to be made of dynamite. And that was just the main headline! Holy cows! I will start my book with this poem about young Alfred:

News!

I never spend much time
in school what with money
to be made on the street
hawking the Boston papers,

but I know enough words
to make passersby hungry
for what's in the 16 pages
of the Boston Daily Globe.

Today, there's Explosions!
61 dead! Society folks
climbing through flames
to leap from buildings--

dressed only in nighties!
Wouldn't you want to find
out more? Sure ya would!
Only two cents, Mister.

I imagined Alfred talking to the man taking his picture and demonstrating a talent for melding front page stories to make one, sensational, paper-selling, tale.

I could go many ways from here. More poems about the unique, and long-forgotten, events reported on Monday, December 18, 1916? More about newsies? Headlines from other days in the early 1900s? Poems about working kids, and the variety of jobs in which they were employed (exploited), who were photographed by Hine for the National Child Labor Committee? What would interest you as a reader?

Come back again--I imagine I'll be sharing more on the project down the road.

Katya, at Write. Sketch. Repeat. is our host for this Friday's Round-Up. I'm going to apologize ahead of time for not answering comments, and not commenting on others' posts today. I'm heading out to the Mass Poetry Festival taking place this weekend in Salem, MA.

Poetry Friday--"Poetry Is Not Drowning"

"Poetry is not drowning, but swimming into new territory," is a post by Billy Mills on a blog run by the British newspaper, The Guardian. The gist of the article is this: the amount of poetry currently being published in book form may be diminishing, but, poetry will continue to live online. Here is what Mills had to say,

So, where some see poetry as a dying art, I see it as an early and enthusiastic adopter of new technologies, partly because it has to be. Why? Well, if selling what you're making isn't going to make anyone rich, but you want to share it with those people who are interested, then you have to work out the cheapest way to do so. And right now it looks like that way is a mix of online, performance and print, with each supporting the other in a new model of publishing, one in which the printed collection is no longer the only accepted mode of publishing but remains a key part of the package.

I have to agree with Mr. Mills. I would have liked to have sold my Kids of the Homefront Army: Poems of World War II America manuscript to a regular print publisher, but after a few unsuccessful attempts, I decided that it wasn't all that important to me to make money. The important thing was to share my work, especially with those who were so generous in sharing their memories of WW II. Several of these people had passed away, and I didn't feel I had the luxury of shopping the manuscript around any longer.

The cheapest and easiest way for me to publish the poems was on a blog, HomefrontArmy.com. I posted poems several times a week from June 2011 to May 2012. I have recently changed the posting dates so that the entire manuscript can now be read from top to bottom in roughly the order in which the war occurred.

I thought I would share one of the poems today to encourage you to visit Kids of the Homefront Army if you haven't been there before.

Luka


CERTAIN ADVANTAGES

Things have always
been rough, after all,
there are eight kids
in the family. Father
worked days while
mother worked nights,
and we barely got by.
Now mother is working
at the railroad station.
She cleans out the cars
that carry the troops
on their way to the war.
I never would have thought
that a war could be good,
but for us, it has been.
Mother brings home
sandwiches and candy
bars left behind by
the soldiers, and now
even she gets to eat.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Union Station, Chicago, photo by Jack Delano, courtesy Library of Congress.

I like this one because we get to see that for some, the war had a beneficial side to it. Those who barely made it through the depression were able to find jobs once the war began. One of the individuals who sent me his memories of the war years told me that when people were out celebrating the end of the war in 1945, the only thing he, a teen, could think of was that he'd soon be out of a job.

I'm thinking that I would like to turn Kids of the Homefront Army into an ebook, but that's a project for another time...

Stop by Teaching Young Writers where Betsy is hosting the Poetry Friday Round-Up AND a Chalk-A-Bration!

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

On this day in 1913, thousands of women, and their supporters, marched for women's suffrage in Washington, D.C. There was also a lot of opposition to the marchers, and mistreatment of the marchers led to Senate hearings.

It would be seven more years before women were granted the right to vote by the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

The Des Moines News front page story was typical of the coverage of the event. They stated that the crowd was seven thousand strong, and they engaged in a little all-American boasting, "Demonstration Most Elaborate in World's History of Suffrage."

The photo of suffragists and the crowd courtesy Library of Congress.